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NaturalMotion nabs Dan Borthwick from Playfish to head new London studio

3D social mobile titles the aim of the game

NaturalMotion nabs Dan Borthwick from Playfish to head new London studio
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NaturalMotion's new London studio is to be headed by Dan Borthwick, formerly of EA Playfish, where he worked on titles such as Pet Society on Facebook.

As with the company's Oxford HQ, the studio will be working on high-end 3D mobile social titles for iOS and Android.

"I am thrilled to be joining NaturalMotion and look forward to setting up a new studio in London to build on their recent success, develop great games and continue to push what's possible in mobile social," said Borthwick.

Westway ho!

NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil added, "Our new studio in London will be an important part in our strategy to become one of the leading mobile social game publishers."

"We are delighted to welcome Dan onboard and are looking forward to amazing games coming out his studio."

Based in Westbourne Studios, NaturalMotion is also looking to hire game and lead programmers, social game designers and producers.

Its most recent title My Horse was its first foray into free-to-play gaming and has proved a great success, having pulled in more than 8 million downloads since its September 2011 release.

It boasts more than 500,000 daily active users.

Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.